Re: [wg-c] Principles for domain names v7

["Kevin J. Connolly" <CONNOLLK@rspab.com>]

There is a severe problem raised whenever a registry exercises control 
over who/what may register/be registered as a second-level domain.  
This is a problem that NSI grappled with very early in the process, and 
it selected a solution which is unbeatable:  the registry/registrar exercises
 no control over registrations, full stop.  Once a registry exercises *some* 
control over the registrations of SLD names, how can it claim that it is 
uneconomical for it to exercise complete oversight over *all* domain 
names under its TLD?  How can it be OK to control registrations based 
on conformity to the "charter" and not stop some pirate from grabbing 
"cocacola.newdomain?"  And once we start down that slope, how do 
we avoid having registries sued into oblivion by trademark holders, or 
having to charge $500.00+ for the first year's registration of a domain?

In other words, unless a TLD is sharply restricted to a small constituency 
of registrants (after the fashion of .mil, .gov, and .edu) we are asking for 
a world of trouble once we try to imbue a TLD with restrictions based on 
the meaning/content of the TLD.  I would feel compelled to counsel any 
prospective registrant to adopt a policy that says, in effect, "my" TLD 
means whatever you make of it.  I would advise a client to run screaming 
from the room at the prospect of a TLD whose management requires *any* 
oversight to control who may register domains, what those domains stand 
for, or what content can be found within those domains.

This is not the same as saying that the domain has no content, or that its 
content is meaningless.  Take, for example, mcdonald.per (or .nom).  The 
meaning of the .per or .nom TLD signifies that mcdonald.per is about a clan 
of Scotsmen, not hamburgers.  The control would not, however, be imposed 
by the registry or registrar.  The control would flow from (it is hoped) the 
consistent refusal of trademark-enforcing tribunals to shut down 
mcdonald.per ^ .nom as a community for that ilk of Scots.

The ideas are nice as principles, but they break down in practice.  We do not
have to adopt all of NSI's policies, but we should not ignore the wealth of
experience that they have acquired. Let us be mindful of history's lessons, lest
we reiterate the follies of the past.

KJC.2

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